More government: companies are asking for it

I arrived in the US around the same time that the three giant American automakers - Ford, General Motors and Chrysler - asked US Congress for a bail out, which is basically a loan to cover operational costs now that they risking bankrupcy. The New York Times provides a detailed account of problems associated with automakers' dire situation. Probably encouraged by the legislators' generosity towards Wall Street financial institutions and banks, the Big Three figured it was a good idea and the right time to knock on the Congress' door. Politically, the automaking industry & its problems are very important here in US as it provides jobs for millions of workers either directly or through supply chains. Although the Congress is not yet satisfied with the companies' management's presentations, it is seriously considering a $25 billion aid package.

What are the big-picture-implications of such developments? Crate and Matten in their post Bail-out - Who's next?suggest that

'{...}with the bailout of the banking industry and potentially others we might witness a watershed in contemporary capitalism: a return of the government as a key player in business' so that eventually '{...}we as citizens, represented by democratic governments, regain control of a corporate world which for too long has put shareholder’s and manager’s interests ahead of many legitimate interests of wider society.'

This is indeed an interesting and refreshing perspective that is hardly vehiculated here in the liberal USA. Although the automakers' bail-out plan will most likely pass, it will have the stigma of a "necessary evil." But maybe it does not really have to be so... After all, in every problem there is an opportunity.